FAMILY VALUES

Politicians are fond of speaking about "family values", and love photo opportunities that depict them as happily married decent individuals. In practice though when defending the profit margins of the owning class they ruthlessly attack the living standards of working class families. "Families with children will be hardest hit by tax and benefit changes aimed at cutting the deficit, a charity argues. The Family and Parenting Institute (FPI) says the average income of households with children will drop by 4.2% between 2010-11 and 2015-16, the equivalent of £1,250 a year. Average household income however will fall 0.9%, or £215 a year, say the FPI." (BBC News, 4 January) RD